600lb to a Sub 3 Marathon
12 Weeks Out from Porto Marathon November 5th 2023
After a seven week block of speed training, I am now officially into my marathon build. Paces are all based off running 2:59:59 and taken from the Jack Daniels running calculator. My wife is my coach.
The last marathon I ran was London 2021 in a time of 3:35:00.
I dedicated an entire decade (my thirties) to putting on weight. At one point I stepped on the scales at 116kg (240-something pounds). I was a competitive, heavyweight Powerlifter, capable of shifting over 600lbs in a single lift.
In my twenties I averaged out at 75-77kg.
Age 28-38. Ten years of gaining strength & size
After a four year period of drinking, smoking and working at a local supermarket with no goals or ambitions, I awoke in a dingy flat one Sunday morning with an out-of-the-blue sense of urgency to become fit and healthy. I was skinny with no muscle and a small tyre of blubber around my waist; Skinny-fat, is the most appropriate term I can think of. I jumped out of bed, made a cup of tea and smoked a roll-up before strolling down to my local YMCA gym. I was told that I would need to have an induction before I was let loose on the gym floor. No problem. Except.. there was. My blood pressure and failure to give a satisfactory lung power test meant that I would require a doctors note to be able to join. The real kick in the ass was witnessing two obese people walking on the treadmill as I was ushered out - how is it that they were healthy enough to work out here but I wasn’t?
With next to no knowledge of how to train, I did what seemed logical. I bought a copy of ‘Mens Health’, a multi-vitamin and a pack of cereal bars (so I could start each day with a ‘healthy’ breakfast’).
The best way to get in shape, according to page 25, was a rigorous cardio routine.
There was a fairly steep hill about a mile long in the city in which I lived. I decided to walk up it twice per day. Four miles each day, every day. I set myself session by session goals. The first was working out how far a 5 minute effort would take me. I would mark the location (lamppost number 2 for example) and then on the following walk I would aim to get there in 4:50. Rinse, repeat. Through the course of natural progression, I ended up running the hill, sometimes much as 3-4 times per day. Two months later my GP signed me off to begin training. This was the genesis of my life path, my career, my passion. But it was not without pain and sacrifice and many stupid mistakes that have caused pain to others and damage to my body that can never be undone. Was it worth it? I can’t answer that question and may never be able to. But I’m doing it. I’m trying to live a life full of positive deeds and to make the lives of those close to me, better. Having goals to drive me helps to combat a life full of quiet (and sometimes not-so-quiet) depression. Much like Tyson Fury, I need to fight - not in the literal sense, but I need to challenge myself; to do things I never thought possible.
Prior to my first gym session, I took it upon myself to quit smoking. My mother had told me she had a paid session with hypnotherapist which I was welcome to if I thought it would work. Sure, why not? I was fairly agnostic about such things so I took the bus to Bristol and made my way to the clinic. I don’t have much recollection of the appointment but when I stepped outside and automatically reached for my packet of tobacco in my shorts pocket, I noticed that I didn’t have the typical craving to light up.
‘Ok, let’s go with it’ I thought.
So that was it. In late 2004 I quit smoking. The band days and drug use were well in my rear-view mirror at this point.
After - I don’t know exactly how long - I was passed by my GP to begin attending the gym. I marked this occasion with a huge tattoo on my back - a design not dissimilar to that of one of the bad-guy surfers in the 1992 film ‘Point Break’. No, I couldn’t afford it as a lowly Barista at a M&S coffee shop. At the time I was bad with money, I suppose, because I never had any. I paid for the tattoo by withdrawing money from a credit card. My monthly wage for full time hours was £700. My university load debt put my account at minus three thousand pounds always. I was charged a fee any time I had to take money out for rent and essentials because I was permanently overdrawn. I ate Sainsbury’s economy (or ‘basics’) cheddar cheese and bread every day for two years straight until I started at the gym. This was a vast improvement on my band-days diet, where I lived on a camping bed in the living/dining room of our managers tiny cottage. My caloric needs were met by one packet of Somerfields basic scones each day. Nothing else. 15p for a packet. £1.35 per week on food.
My early gym days were a turning point. For the first time in my adult life, I had found passion. I mean, I was obsessed. Determined to make this my career, I set about looking for the quickest way to become a personal trainer (for the record, I hate this term. My self awarded title these days is ‘Coach’.)
Turns out the fastest way to do this was to sign up to Premier Training and become a PT in a matter of weeks or months (I don’t recall the exact timeframe). It cost a few grand - money that I didn’t have. I mean, I literally had no money. I was informed that the cheapest way to start qualifying as coach was to convince a local council gym to hire you and then send you on a Fitness Instructor Level 1 course. This mean you were then qualified to show people how to use the weight and cardio machines. If you were a good employee with solid people skills, you could then be selected to undertake your Level 2 Personal Trainer Accreditation over the course of 1 or 2 years. So that’s what I did. My first action was to find gainful employment, which I did at my local swimming pool (skills that would come in handy nearly 10 years later). The second was to join a gym in the next town and prove my dedication to fitness. I had no car, so instead walked the 4 or so miles to train each day of the week, getting to know the staff; eagerly observing their interactions with paying clients and the training methods they prescribed. Interestingly, the first official PT I met was Andy. Andy was always 15 minutes late for his clients. Rushing through the door looking flustered, carrying 2 kettlebells, bands and a wobble board, he always had the most elaborate excuses for his tardiness. The best I can recall was that he had accidentally dyed his dog blue and had been on hold to the vets, eager to confirm that the blue dye would not cause some kind of fatal skin reaction. The other employee I met was a registered dietician. I won’t divulge his name, but I witnessed one consultation he had with a client, presumably regarding weight loss, that he essentially yawned his way through, eating Wotsits from a packet in his desk drawer - clearly bored out of his mind or hungover from the night before. He himself was not what you consider of a ‘healthy weight’. At the time I found this all rather alarming but remained largely unfazed
“I can be better”
A job as a life guard is as boring as time gets. Spending hours watching others swim, for very little money is not taking life by the horns. To make matters worse, I had the dire misfortune of working under, quite literally, the most awful human being I had met up to that point in my young life (and ever since, come to think of it). Her name was Bethan. She was of a similar age to me, and probably working for near the same wage, but she despised me. I tried to appease her in any way I could, offering to man reception for her 15 minutes earlier than I needed to one time, in order that she might enjoy a longer lunch break. Her response was to belittle me, in front of others, for not being able to tell the time. Understand that, I was not a pushover. My temper ran quite hot, but, I needed this job. I also needed to quit this job to begin training for my dream job. On that day, I finished my shift and walked to Trowbridge and to the gym.
**At some point the transition from lifeguard to behemoth will be documented here, but for now, let’s just say that I became a trainer and a competitive powerlifter and focussed on being a monster until I reached 38 years old and my world came crashing down around me…**
The transition from bulky powerlifter to slightly more ripped but still north of 100kg powerlifter/ultra runner came as a matter of necessity. My final competition, in 2016, as a heavyweight saw me passing out in the bathroom later that night as a random nose bleed that wouldn’t congeal left me faced with the harsh reality that, at nearly 40 years old, I needed to start taking care of my health. My blood pressure was somewhere in the region of 150/110…
The next morning, as I sat, watching a new TV series entitled ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’, I witnessed a scene that swiftly changed the course of my entire existence from then on.
‘Foxy’, a man in his late 30’s was tasked with leading a group of young men on a hike/run over the famous Pen-Y-Fan in Wales. He told the 18-20 somethings that he would be at least 20 minutes ahead of the fastest one of them. Naturally, the young men laughed and scoffed; before having their assess handed to them. Colour me inspired. I put on a pair of Vans or Converse and head out of the door for the first run I’d attempted since my twenties. I made it one mile before blowing up - crawling my way home, embarrassed and humbled. 14 minutes is the time it took. Little did I know that I would take part in a trail half marathon just six months later.
The decision to run fast at 43 years old
On May 29th 2023 I was a 3:35 marathon runner. That was the time I had run for London 18 months earlier. It wasn’t a half-arsed effort either. Since then I had continued to run and lift. Volume would drop when I wanted to get bigger and rise when I wanted to feel better. But I only performed one session a week, with my client, Rich. He was a 4 hour runner and as such, the sessions never really challenged me. My motivation to train has always been high, and, I always had something to train for (powerlifting meets, ultra runs and even a double distance IM) but speed was never a factor. At my bodyweight I didn’t expect much of myself - like many, the goal was always to finish.
On May 30th we awoke at Holly’s parents house. The day before was my birthday and we had celebrated with my family whilst Holly’s parents were on holiday. Since it was my long run day I told Holly I would run the 12 miles home. For whatever reason, I felt good. One of those rare runs where you feel like you’re flying. I turned my LSR into a progressive session and ran faster than I think I have ever done.
“I want to run Sub 3.”
The thought was planted.
The sensible thing to do was go for sub 3:20 but at 43 and with an acute sense of my god-given speed disappearing year by year, I decided to well and truly punch above my weight. We agreed that I would base my paces off a sub 3:10 Marathon and work on building speed for 8 weeks, before transitioning to a marathon build that culminated in the Porto Marathon on Nov 5th 2023. I began by following our ‘faster 5-10k’ plan that we sell on our website. Basing off 3:10, if I’m honest, felt about right. My threshold felt like threshold and I handled the reps well. A good sign. So, after a few weeks I started basing my paces off 2:59:59. The first reps session very nearly killed me - I was hanging on for dear life. Then I was set a 20/20/20 session at 6:30/7:30/6:30. My head was in the game and I completed the workout. But, on the final 20 I felt my left hamstring tweak. It didn’t stop me and I pushed on for the remaining 10 or so minutes. I kept this a secret as I know Holly would have told me that I was an idiot for trying to run faster than I was ready for. Instead, I immersed myself in finding out the root cause of a hamstring pull and then religiously stretched, rolled, strengthened on a daily basis whilst continuing to run - praying that the tightness would dissipate. Turns out the ground contact at the late phase of the gait cycle was an issue. The hamstring was being over-stretched and all the stretching I was doing in the name of rehab, was just making things worse. I stopped stretching it, started performing more appropriate strength work and, with a daily massage from Holly for the first 2 weeks of our trip to the Alps the July of this year, it went away. No training sacrificed, every session still hit. What follows is my journal from our 6 week trip to Europe.
**Alps trip journal
Day 1 - Troyes.
Our first morning in France. Told by Alan that 6 weeks in the mountains was not the best way to prep for a marathon. Luckily we had some fairly flat road today and cool, wet weather. Undoubtedly my favourite session of the trip. Stayed with Holly mostly. 8x3 mins fast with 200m jog recovery. Averaged in the low 3:40’s. Felt amazing.
Our goal was to complete two sessions + lifting per week if we could find a gym or track. Between these sessions we would run/hike for 3-6 hours, usually around 1000-2500m altitude, however, our first week was spent in Annecy. 500m but 30+ degrees and 80%+ humidity. At 9am.
Our tempo session was the one ‘not great’ session of the entire trip. 40 mins at HM pace in a gym with no air conditioning and no through flow of air. Holly jumped off the treadmill after 10 mins and went outside. I stayed and wimped out at 20 mins. I was sure I was going to pull a hamstring so slowed the pace to marathon effort and continued to struggle to the end.
Not hitting your targets is really quite deflating. I knew I should have gone by effort. The heat and suffocating atmosphere of the gym was too much to maintain a pace which would have almost certainly been manageable in cooler temps.
More daily running. Sometimes flatter for 8-ish miles, sometimes hours with 1000-1600m of climbing sprinkled in.
We migrated to Chamonix for the second week and I took part in my first ever track session. I innocently asked the question: ’So, how long is this track?” Instant regret. I had opened the door for Holly to ridicule me and tell her coach how much of a dork I am (For the 10-15 people out there who don’t know, tracks are universally 400m)
Turns out the track was 300m.
12x400m @ 90 seconds. Altitude 1000m. Good. Strength later.
More 8-10 mile runs with climbing before landing in Courmayeur for a tempo session on the dreadmill. 42 mins of 3 mins MP/3 mins HMP. Strength.
The following day was 6 hours and 19 miles in the mountains with just shy of 2000m of climbing. Ouch.
Monday. 40 mins pushing the speed up by 0.2 every 5 mins. Adjusting for 1400m of altitude, I began at 13.9kmph and ended at 14.9 or 15.1… I don’t recall. Hard but good. Strength 8 hours later.
Moving on to Gran Paradiso National Park we spent a few days up high. Wednesday was a lot of climbing; just shy of 5 hours over 22km. We left on the Friday for Lake Orta. We had entered the HM & 10k which was due to take place at 8am on Saturday morning.
The temperatures and humidity were such that, the previous course record on the 10k was 40 mins. Not flat, 20% trail and suffocating. I finished in 43 mins. My hamstring had been playing up from the aforementioned session weeks earlier. After the 10k, it really hurt. I mean, I could still run (and fast too) but the pace dictated how much it would bother me afterwards.
After the race we showered on the street and then quickly escaped the heat and humidity, bound for the Dolomites. Cortina is lovely. High up but with this comes cooler temperatures. Less oxygen, but cooler temps…
The very next day we ran/climbed to Lake Sorapiss. Felt like crap, psychologically, but the toasted sandwiches at the refuge helped me get my head on straight again.
10k easy the next day. We had gym planned for the following day but when we turned up, it was closed. Luckily we spotted a track not too far away. Normally this would not have been accessible to the public, but it turned out that particular Tuesday was a national holiday - the ‘Assumption of Mary”, which saw most businesses closing for 24 hours. The track was also closed but a German Coach had gained access for 3 of his athletes and told us it would be fine if we wanted to use the track. We hit a great, high altitude/high temp workout. 5x1 mile of 1 lap jog recovery. My breakdown was:
Mile 1: 6:26
Mile 2: 6:46
Mile 3: 6:44
Mile 4: 6:40
Mile 5: 6:30
Not especially fast for mile reps but these would likely have been quicker at sea level with a temperature less than 30 degrees.
It’s still hard to believe you’re not losing fitness though. To go by effort and not paces is the only real way to navigate altitude training.
The next day we hit the strength work hard. I believe we were training for around 2 hours. Total body training. You have to make the most of gym access when you can it on trips like these.
We followed this up with nearly 15 miles in the Alpe di Suis - the highest alpine pasture in Europe. I forgot to take my watch but there was over 2000m of climbing and I suffered the worst bout of sun burn I had experienced since being a kid.
A welcome rest day followed (with a 5 hour drive peppered in) as we made our way back to Courmayeur.
On the Saturday my objective was to run 35 mins at slightly faster than HM pace, which I did. This was huge confidence booster. Tbh, I’ve been more concerned about running 13.1 miles at 6:35 than I have about running 26.2 at 6:52.
The following day I ran 18km on the treadmill at a very easy pace. I’m averaging 50-57 miles per week currently.
We headed back to Chamonix the next day and parked up in Argentiere - one of our favourite places to stay with a great view of a spooky house called ‘Le Planet’. At this time temperatures were in excess of 30 degrees in Chamonix, but a short drive up the road put us around 400m higher and with that comes very pleasant, cool evenings; making it much easier to sleep. The following morning we decided an easy recovery run of 7 miles would be a lovely way to arrive back into the centre of Chamonix and get coffee and sweet banana bread at Moody’s (if you know, you know). The run felt awful. I mean, my feet were slapping the ground and 8 minute miles felt nearly as hard as when I began running as a 116kg powerlifter. My recovery calories the day prior were not where they should have, I felt. I don’t track calories but am acutely aware when I haven’t eaten enough. We headed back to Argentiere and spent the remainder of the day eating and reading. Alan had sent over a track workout for the following day and on wakening on Tuesday morning, I felt quite apprehensive. I was so distracted in fact, that I bumped the van into a wooden pavement barrier, knocking it clean off.
We parked up and made our way to the track. After drills and strides we moved to the following workout…
5 laps continuous at 75 seconds.
Jog 1 lap easy
5x1 lap with 30 seconds recovery at 72 seconds
Jog 1 lap easy
5 laps continuous at 75 seconds.
5x1 lap with 30 seconds recovery at 72 seconds
Jog 1 lap easy
5 laps continuous at 75 seconds or faster.
Here are our splits
5 cont - 74/75/75/74/75
5 x 1 - 69/69/70/69/70
5 cont - 76/75/75/74/72
5 x 1 - 70/70/67/67/68
5 cont - 5:34 in total.
1035m altitude.
I had listened to a podcast with running coach Jeff Cunningham who said that an indicator that someone may have the potential to run Sub 3 is if they can run a 5:52 mile (1 min faster than MRP). If you factor in the altitude and the estimated time of adding another 100m, our final 5 laps continuous would give me a 5:52 mile. And that’s after having run four fifths of the days session. I should also note that when I began my speed training in June, one of my sessions was 6x3 mins @ 3:54k’s and honestly, nearly killed me. Today, running in the 3:40’s felt super comfortable - at no point did I feel I was running close to max pace.
The next day we ran to Chamonix from Vallorcine. 12 miles with just over 1000m of climbing. At this point I was ready for a rest day. I’m a total fidget on a normal day, but the last few I was perfectly happy to return to the van (on this particular day we had found an incredible park-up in Vallorcine) and do nothing until bedtime. This a pretty good sign that I need to rest. We made the decision to drive to Argentiere for pizza that evening and then veg the next day - heaven.
Friday August 25th - Track.
Felt like I’d been coming down with a cold for the past 24 hours but figured I’d close out this week if I could and take next week off to recover. Turns out I felt much better after the session which was… 1 hour at marathon race pace. Not sure exactly what happened but we ended up doing 6:44 miling for the hour (should have been 6:52). Felt fine once I’d locked onto Hollys shoes. A tired old playlist didn’t help the monotony of running in circles for 60 mins but a massive confidence booster. She picked up the pace for the final 5 laps which got me breathing harder but overall, very happy. I feel with another 9 weeks of training - 8 of them back at sea level and cooler temps as we move into autumn - and a proper taper, I might be ok. The thing that scares me most is the Chippenham HM on Sept 17th for which I have to run 6:35 miling…
If I feel ok, I’ll do 14 miles easy tomorrow. Not a great idea after a hard session day but we travel later that afternoon for Holly’s race on Sunday and so a long run is out of the question. UTMB week next week and final 7 days abroad. 6 weeks in the Alps and the Dolomites… I couldn’t have dreamed of a life like this 5+ years ago.
Holly had told me that she wouldn’t normally program a 14 miler the day after a tough track session and, after setting off from Argentiere to Chamonix, I made the decision that I would just go for 8 miles. I felt fine upon making the decision but I was running downhill. When I turned at 4 miles I knew I’d made the right decision. Uphill felt tough. When Holly is racing the next day I’ll do another 6 miles to make up the mileage. Not necessary but I’ll put it down to wanting to have upped the mileage a little this week. However, if I wake with a cold, I’ll rest as long as is necessary to recover.
Monday 28th August
Holly raced (and won) her trail HM yesterday. I went for a 10km loop around the area. Came back to Chamonix for ribs and a sundae at the micro brasserie. Woke up this morning sniffly. Don’t feel bad, just a head cold. Decided to take today off and see how I feel tomorrow.
This is the last week of our trip and it’s UTMB. I’ve survived 5 weeks of track and trails and feel I’ve made some good progress out here. I’ll return home for a hard week of training and then a small taper for my road HM on Sep 17th. It’s difficult to believe that not doing a week of full on training here in Cham won’t knock my fitness but I’d rather rest now, absorb the prior training and shift this cold asap. Pushing through will just extend the length of the bloody thing.
Tuesday. 7 miles. Felt horrible. Decided to take the rest of the week off but, as I improved throughout the day, I employed a strategy I’ve used before; a huge poco loco burger with fries followed by a double boule ice cream. Worked like a charm. Slept 9 hours solid (I’m a lifelong insomniac) and woke up feeling human. Decided to do the track session and keep fingers crossed. The workout was 2x(5x800m) with 45 sec recovery between 800’s and a lap jog between the two sets. Went off too fast. Managed to complete the workout, staying at around 72/73 seconds per 300m lap but found it hard. No issues afterwards, felt good for the rest of the day. Agreed to a few hours in the mountains the next day.
Our final long run on the final 20km of the UTMB course from Vallorcine back to Chamonix. Felt kinda ‘meh’ but during the last few k’s, I started to feel my hamstring/adductor. Gutted. Maybe that’s what you get for doing a hard track session followed by hours in the mountains.
Strength and very easy running on the day of UTMB (thrilled that I saw Jim Walmsley do a shakeout on my run along the river). Saturday off and then our final track session early on the morning we were leaving. 3-2-1 mins fast followed by 5k. My splits were supposed to be 75 seconds but on average I was hitting 76. It felt like the correct effort so went with it but it’s rare that I’m slower than prescribed. Put it down to 6 hard weeks at altitude. Amazingly, came home and felt good. Still aware of hamstring/adductor but hit a fast treadmill session of 6-5-4-3 building from 6:20 mining to 6 min miling. This Saturday I have 18 miles with 9 miles at MRP. This will ultimately decide the fate of hammies.
Saturday 9th September
My first long run with MRP sprinkled in. 2 mile warm up, 3x5k at MRP off 1k rec, 3 mile cooldown. Have had a clogged left ear since swimming in lake Orta and woke up with it having seemingly gotten worse. Headache and slight vertigo and, in general, not feeling up to it. Warm up felt harder than it should have and constant worry that the lack of support in my Metaspeeds would finally see my adductor torn of the bone as this was the most MRP I had ever done - sandwiched between a total of 5 miles. It was also in the twenties and humidity was high.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. At one point during the second rep I looked at Holly and said ‘this feels too easy’. Her reply made me wish I hadn’t told her. ‘You’re running at 14kph - it’s supposed to be 14.1. I swear my RunHive app said 6:52 miling was 14kph on the treadmill. Took it up for the final 5k and honestly, just got into a groove. I’d run out of decent music to listen to some years back so Holly recommended I listen to some progressive house today. Game changer.
Sunday 10th September
An easy 10k with Lemmy. Actually felt ok apart from the vertigo! Taper week now although, I suspect, that will simply mean I get Friday off and a couple of miles shakeout on Saturday.
TAPER WEEK BEFORE CHIPPENHAM HALF MARATHON 2023
So this is the first big tester. Can I run a time that would indicate I may be able to break 3 hours in November? Back in June I can safely say that this pace was not possible to hold for more than 20 minute - at best.
We’ve both felt ‘coldy’. Holly has a cough she can’t shift and I feel super-tired. But not in an over-trained way. It’s hard to explain. I’ve halved my running volume. Today, Wednesday, I did a short session; 5x1k at 3:47 pace of 90 sec jog recovery. Felt fine but not. Could have carried on for longer, HR avg was 158bpm which Holly assures me is good, but I’m nervous. I’ve been dreaming about this for 3 months and now it’s here. I’m not ill or injured but I can still feel a little adductor tightness here and there. I swear I felt my old sports hernia before today’s training but then nothing during the session. My mind playing tricks on me, I guess. I just want to run 1:26 for free, if that makes sense, but I’m aware that nothing in this life is without cost. Be positive, you’ve done the work.
8 Weeks Out. Chippenham Half Marathon - September 16th 2023
1:28:12
Not the result I wanted and, admittedly, felt pretty bummed out the rest of the day. The reality of going from a 1:43 half to a 1:26 in just over 12 weeks never factored into my thinking. Yes, the course was by no means a pb course. The hills from miles 9.5 to 12 slowed my pace from 4:05 to 4:23 for a k or two. I was spent. By the 16th k, my legs started to fill with concrete and my breathing increased rapidly. Up until that point I had felt like I was cruising. 1:26 was a given, with an idea to potentially pick up the pace at the end. But I had never run at that pace for more than an hour. I was told a course like that would be equal to 1:26 if it was flat but, well, I still felt deflated. The good news is that I had no adductor issues to speak of. And, I still have 6 weeks of training to find a little bit of extra fitness. About 5 mins, according to my race predictor. I also found out the course was slightly long. I double checked this by looking at my stats and, it was true! 1:27:25 (although it’s not good form to do this. The race results said 1:28 so 1:28 it is)
I took the next day off and then jumped into my highest mileage week to date. 58 miles. Holly had pointed out that my cadence was very slow. According to my Coros app, my avg cadence was 150-160, so I located the metronome on my watch and went to work. Tuesday, 8.5 miles at 175 cadence. Wednesday 10 miles at 174. Thursday I had a 10x3 min session, Friday I took as a recovery run. Average heart rate was 127 but cadence was actually 176. Saturday another easy 6.
Sunday. My second proper long run with MRP
I remember watching Nick Bare’s MRP sessions. He talked about feeling like a kid waiting for xmas the night before. I totally get that. Undoubedtly the most specific training for race day at this point in time. The goal was: 3 mile warm up. 4x5km at MRP with a 1km float recovery. 1 mile cooldown. I decided to try to bump from 75g carbs per hour to 120g carbs per hour. Slightly daunting since we’d been out for Holly’s birthday the night before and the portions at the pub were huge. The final nail in the coffin was eating a massive slab of birthday cake when we came home. You know that feeling when you wake up and you still feel full from the night before? Still, I had to try it and opportunities to run for this long at this pace were few and far between. I’m happy to report that it worked like a dream. The 5k reps felt strong and I even bumped the incline from 0.5% to 1% for the final 5k and pushed up the speed to 6:40. I received an absolute bollocking for doing so. Normally I do exactly as I’m told… Heart rate was 155bpm average - exactly what my race hr should be.
6 weeks out
This week will be my highest volume week to date. I have been averaging 50-55 miles per week since June. Last week was 57 miles and this weeks is set to be 61 miles. My first session was on the Wednesday, three days post MRP long run. The goal was 7x1 mile at LT (4:01k’s) with 800m recovery between sets. Damn. It went well. HR averaged 156 overall, with the efforts around 160-166. Breathing was controlled. After 2 efforts I knew I could do the whole thing but I also knew it was going to be a slog. This is what needs to be done. Like Holly said, “You need these hard sessions at threshold” and I agree.
Took 2 days of easy running before the weekends MRP & long run. 4x3 miles at MRP on Saturday. The recovery was to be based on how I felt. If I really went by how I felt then the recoveries would have been longer than the reps, but, I landed around 400-600m. The first rep felt harder than it should have and the rest weren’t spectacular. Avg HR was 155 although the reps seemed to be consistently 158-159. 4-5 beats higher than ideal race day HR.
The following day, I ran an easy 20 miles. Started out feeling a little fatiqued, but by mile 5 I was flying. Bear in mind that this was not a flat, road run. Packed trail and plenty of hills don’t do your avg pace any favours, but for most of the miles, I was averaging in the 7’s. I didn’t think about cadence and happily, it naturally fell around 167 (normally my easy run cadence is in the 150’s). Progress. I tried the SIS Beta Fuel gels, for this effort - mainly because they’re a third of the price of the Maurten gels. Each contained 40g of carbs and, whilst they digested well enough and tasted ‘ok’, the almost liquid consistency made it incredibly easy to cover your hands in sugar syrup and, more importantly, the Maurten gels you can swallow whole. Very quick and no mess. The Beta fuel was harder to get down. But if you don’t have the funds for Maurten, SIS Beta gels are a fine alternative.
62 miles for the week - my highest to date. I am, at this point, feeling the miles. That’s ok. We’re now five weeks out and this is to be expected.
5 weeks out
Monday off and felt surprisingly good, considering this is all new territory to me. Tuesday will be an early session of 10 x 1 min on/1 min off followed by marathon pulse for 30 mins. The first half of each minute rep at 10k pace, the remaining 30 seconds hard. Until Saturday it will then be easy running until the biggest, baddest session of the entire block. Yes, Holly has prescribed me a Canova session. 18 miles with 6/5/4/3/2/1 km’s starting at MRP and increasing by 2 seconds on each rep. 2 mile warm up, 2 mile cooldown. 13 miles of MRP or faster.
I have also made an observation about how I look currently. Whilst I am still lifting, the large amount of miles have taken their toll on my physical appearance. I look skinnier than ever. Down from 92/93kg to 85kg now. I look as though I’ve lost muscle and actually gained a little fat. I can’t say I care as much as I might have done a few years ago, but I do look forward to putting a little mass back on when Porto is done. Having said that, the feeling of being light-ish and fit is addictive. I don’t have the same bloated face as I have previously and not every run is a struggle. The unfortunate fact is, being a “Hybrid” athlete isn’t any fun or particularly healthy. The unfortunate fact is this… many of the heavily muscled YouTube/IG athletes who lift and run are using anabolic steroids, growth hormone and various other peptides, which allow you to hang on to muscle whilst you build your endurance base. But running with that level of mass sucks. That’s a plain fact. Easy runs, tempo runs, it doesn’t matter. It’s just not enjoyable. For the average person, training - as I am - to race (not run) a marathon, will cause muscle loss, not matter how much you lift or eat. The question is, are you willing to sacrifice you aesthetic beauty to hit a PB?
My session on Tuesday I kinda screwed up. The 10x1 min on/off went fine, working between 3:28-3:40 (this was the pace of each rep which included the first 30 secs at 10k pace). I then jumped on the treadmill, but, realising after I started that my watch face was not set up to read HR on an indoor run. I figured that running at 6:52 pace would produce my MHR of 155. I felt really good - easy, in fact, during the course of 30 minutes, but when I collected the data at the end, I saw that my HR had measured between 144-150 throughout. Since we were going by pulse, I should have increased the speed. It bugs me when I screw up a workout this close to the race. There aren’t many opportunities to run fast now and I wish I’d have got this one right. The good to be derived from this is that MRP feels pretty comfortable after a day off.
Wednesday: We were supposed to be headed to my mums house in Swanage, but her husband, Chris, was still testing positive for Covid. A faint line on the test at this point, but a line none-the-less. Mum decided to come here. She is apparently well but we haven’t asked if she’s tested. I’m praying at this point that neither Holly, nor I, catch it. Interestingly, we’ve both woken up a bit sniffly. Nothing serious but we’re both feeling the cumulative effects of the past couple of months training. We headed out for a 12 mile trail run. I’ve not run trails in a little while and, whilst it felt more taxing than it should, my HR stayed low. Lower than I expect it should have. Which could be a sign of overtraining.
Please don’t get sick.
Thursday: Struggled to get to sleep last night. Awoken at 2am by the landing light. Holly had heard our dog, Lemmy, having a seizure. He has epilepsy which is why his previous owner had to re-home him. The attacks are fairly violent but don’t usually last long. This mornings episode was longer than usual - about a minute, but followed by him not being able to move for a little while afterwards. Once he was able to stand, his instinct was to eat. These fits are so costly, from an energy perspective, and so we always give him a big bowl of food and plenty of water. The fits leave him blind at first, but also full of adrenaline, so the next 20 minutes or so consist of pacing and lots of sniffing to determine that we’re with him. Back to bed at 3pm, but struggled to sleep before getting up for work. Surprisingly, no sign of a cold for either of us. Managed to fit in an upper body lifting session and a super-easy 4 mile run. 6 was on the cards but decided to go with how I felt (for once). The goal is to be fit and recovered for Saturday’s Canova session. 2 missed miles is not going to derail the process.
Friday was a 9 miler that I probably ran a little faster than I should. I’ve been accustomed to my Coros telling me that my performance has been over 100% (meaning technically I should perform better than predicted on race day which, I know, doesn’t mean much of anything) and when I do a slower recovery run, I’m told my performance was ‘ok’. I’m aware of how ridiculous this sounds and 99 time out of 100, I won’t play along. Today I did. I’m not on Strava for exactly these reasons.
Saturdays ‘Canova’ session was changed to Alan’s programming for my final MRP long run. My neck, out of the blue, had cricked and tightened, to the point I couldn’t turn my head more than a couple of inches, either side. I feel like I’m constantly being placed in a stress position. This is an ongoing problem since the age of 25 when, during my first attempt at snowboarding, I landed a jump using my head. Consequently the initial portion of the workout had my HR way up - likely due to stress. The session was as follows…
15 mins easy/30 mins marathon race pulse/15 mins easy/30 mins marathon race pulse. 15 mins easy.
My marathon race pulse is 155. The first 30 minutes had me closer to 160 but I didn’t want to reduce the speed down from marathon race pace. By some miracle, the tension eased a tiny bit during the second easy 15 minutes and, when the next 30 minute segment began, my HR backed down to 155 at my marathon race pace. I know I’m tired at the moment. I mean, I don’t feel bad, just… blah. I actually didn’t feel like running at all on this day. I feel as though there’s not been a single session that’s made me feel confident in running 6:52 for 26.2 miles, but as I look back at these notes, there has.
Sunday: 10 miles easy. There are no flat roads around our little town of Frome and a good portion of this run was on a packed trail, but, felt like I was flying. Avg HR 136, avg pace 4:55km, with a few 4:22’s thrown in. Were it not for the hills, I really think I could have maintained marathon pace with a HR under 150bpm. Neck felt a little better after Holly yanked on my head this morning. It’s also Chicago Marathon today and my favourite Runfluencer ‘Floberg’ is going for sub 2:40. I find lots of inspiration from Youtube & SM. It’s quite easy to do if you don’t ‘play the game’.
4 Weeks Out
Monday is a set rest day for me now and I have no desire to sneak anything that might be described as exercise on this sacred day, however, Tuesday I was raring to go. I can recall Alan telling Holly that she and I were ‘jogging too much’. Until recently I had no idea he was joking. And so I decided that every easy run should be undertaken and performed at the top end of the my aerobic threshold. I plotted, for the first time ever, a route around Frome that could almost be described as flat because of the fact that I was sick and tired of my average pace constantly being hampered by the numerous hills that I had to climb.
The 8 miler I undertook on this day was a turning point. For the first time since the HM I decided to allow my cadence full autonomy and, as long as my HR stayed within my aerobic ‘zone’, to just go with the flow.I averaged 4:46k’s, a HR of 142bpm and a cadence between 172-186. Before I began to work on my turnover, I would land in the 150-160 range. I felt incredible- almost as if everything just clicked into place for the first time since starting this training block back in June.
I have this acute awareness that my sessions are drying up. Not many left now before the marathon and I’m still waiting for the one that tells me ‘Yes, you can do this’. Tuesday’s session was about as good as it gets. 2 mile warm up with drills and strides, followed by 5x10 mins off 2 mins recovery. First 5 mins at 7 min miling, second 5 mins at 6:40 miling. HR averaged out at 154bpm - my marathon race pulse (although I’m quite aware that it will probably kick into the 160’s come race day). No problem. Knock on wood, I feel good.
The next chance I had for a session was on Sunday due to a photography gig. 22 miles with 8km at MRP. Completed outside running from Frome to Radstock on road and track with plenty of climbs and descents. My overall pace averaged out to 4:46k’s or 7:40 miling. My last marathon had me running at 8 min miling plus on the flat streets of London. You might think this would be a confidence booster, but the 8k at 6:50 miling felt so damned hard.
“There’s no way I can do this for 26.2 miles.”
The reality sunk in that I had bitten off more than I could chew.
Holly assured my that this was accumulate fatigue from close to 5 months of training with only one real deload.
“Don’t panic. With a proper taper you’ll be fine. Also, your race shoes are completely shredded and flat.”
I’ve performed all my sessions in a pair of ASICS Metaspeed Sky+ - A shoe that I only started wearing at the beginning of prep but have come to love. Perhaps a new pair will make the race feel that much easier…
3 Weeks Out
I feel like a real runner now. Skinny and tired, obsessed with any and all podcasts and books relating to training. Hopefully this week will be the one that brings a sorely needed confidence boost.
Turns out it was.
Wednesdays session looked pretty tame on paper. 5x4 mins at 4:01k’s off 90 sec recovery followed by 10x1 min fast/1 min rec. In reality it was a beast of a workout, but one that lifted my spirits. I ran the first 4 mins at a 4k pace but my HR averaged 150. Technically this was threshold work so I increased the pace. The following 4 reps were performed at a 3:55k with HR at 160 on each. It felt good. Strong. The 10x1 min were ran at a consistent 3:20k and again, all controlled/solid.
Easy running Thursday & Friday. Saturday was my final big session. I was complaining to Holly that I hadn’t experienced one of those pre-race confidence boosting sessions that I’d heard so much about. Today, that changed. I went into the session with no expectations. I felt tired and my warm up felt laboured. All I had to do was get this done, that was it. I knew it was going to be hard but.. whatever. Gut it out. Long run tomorrow and then a few days until a proper taper.
The session was a progressive run. First half hour at MRP then building speed all the way up to HMP over the course of another hour, so, 90 minutes total. Felt surprisingly ok. First 10 minutes HR went up to 158 then dropped and stabilised at 155. Even when I started pushing the pace up, my HR barely crept up. By the end it topped out at 160 but felt like I could have kept running. I half considered going faster for the final 15 minutes but I knew Holly would give me a bollocking and I expected my adductor might go (not that I had any warning signs) As I walked home, I looked at the breakdown on Coros and realised I had gone through the half marathon in 1:27 - 1 minute faster than my Chippenham performance. The silver lining was that at the end of Chippenham I was fighting so hard to finish and yet during this (faster) session I could have easily run 1:26 if it had occurred to me. The fact is, I think of a HM as 13.1 miles but go by k’s on my watch and totally didn’t put two and two together.
2.5 hour long slow run tomorrow, at which point we’re exactly 2 weeks out.
Sundays long run ticked by and just like that, after 5 big months of training, we’re two weeks out and it’s time to taper.
I’m knackered.
We spent the rest of Sunday in a slumber. Asleep by 9:30pm and eternally grateful for having survived to this point, relatively unscathed.
Taper - Finally
After taking Monday off, I took an easy 6 mile run on Tuesday. Still feeling tired. I think the block finished at just the right time. I don’t know that I could have sustained another full-on week without it resulting in illness or injury. Wednesday was a short session. 3x3 mins off 2 min rec/4x1 min off 1 min rec/3x3 mins. My pace for the 3’s was supposed to be 3:42 but I went with Holly and ran 3:30’s. I was working hard. In my head, I had made my mind up that I would do the first 3 sets of 3, the 4x1’s and then call it a day. I knew I wasn’t close to having recovered from last weeks biggest mileage of the entire 5 months - 64 miles.
My quickest 1 min effort was 3:13 and felt much better than the 3x3’s, so I decided to do the 3’s (like I wasn’t going to anyway) but run at a more sustainable pace. This time is was around 3:50’s. Not as quick as they should have been but I didn’t care. I need to recover. Ten days out - which is tomorrow, the proper taper starts. I had lunch and then went to the gym to train lower body. With the fatigue we’re carrying you simply can’t go to 100% when lifting, just 100% of what energy reserves you have that day. Low volume and as heavy as you can handle.
A wave of relief washed over me when I looked at the forecast for Porto and saw that the temperature had dropped by 1 degree C per hour. 13/15/17 - yes!!
Saturday - 8 Days Out
Psychologically, taper is destroying me. Not because I’m itching to run - quite the opposite. All drive, energy, motivation has gone out of the window. In my head, I’ve overtrained. I ran 4.5 miles this morning at a 6:05km average pace with HR averaging 130bpm. Feel worn down, but 90% is in my head. Negative thoughts creep in. I think I’m on the verge of illness. The forecast now says 18mph winds which can knock nearly a minute per mile off race pace. The temperature has crept back up. Windy, hilly and warm. Not ideal race conditions. I’m supposed to run 70 mins easy + 20 mins MRP tomorrow. No idea how I’ll feel in the morning.
“Taper Tantrums” Holly tells me.
Sunday - 7 Days Out
70 mins easy + 19:02 at MRP. Yes, I bailed before the 20 mins was up. The first workout I haven’t completed due to head going. Honestly, the 70 mins was fine. The MRP I couldn’t pace for love nor money. The mins per K went as follows - 4:17/4:11/4:12/4:16 and then 4:24 for 0:52 km’s before pretty strong light headedness took over and I dropped. Average pace for the workout was 4:15. Average HR was 156. Cadence 177. According to my Coros app I was over performing and am likely to pr my race. What a total and utter head case I’ve become.
Tuesday - 5 Days Out
I’m much calmer at this point. The nerves have all but vanished. In a funny twist, we had both realised that we hadn’t seen an official elevation gain profile detailed anywhere, but had read on on a forum somewhere that the course was ‘flat or downhill, barring the hill at the start and the hill at the end’. On Sunday night, I found a 2015 full race video, taken of the elites. After watching up to the half way point, I called out to Holly..
“This race video is interesting, they seem to do an awful lot of climbing in the first half”
Turns out the second half wasn’t much better. After discovering a strava file for the race, we quickly learned that there was over 500m of elevation throughout the 26.2 miles we signed up for. Not exactly what you would call a ‘PB’ course.
The second kick in the teeth was the predicted heavy rain showers/thunderstorms and high winds. All wrapped up in 85% humidity and temps of 16-17 degrees celsius.
Now, I might be able to pull out a 2:59:59 on a flat course with no wind and temps around 11 degrees celsius on a very good day, if I’m lucky, but in the predicted conditions?
Screw it. I’m still going with the sub 3 group. And I’ll give it everything I’ve got. Francis Nganou (a man who has never fought a professional boxing match in his life) went in to the ring with the greatest in the world last Saturday - Tyson Fury - and basically beat the hell out of him. Miracles happen, and I have put the blood, sweat and tears in to give me a damned good shot at a miracle performance. Retired 43 year old powerlifter or not, I am all in.
Wednesday - 4 Days Out
1 mile warm up, 3x1k at HM pace off 60 secs, 1 mile cooldown.
Struggled to run at HM pace. I honestly thought I would have to slow to a jog to run 4:05’s. The first was 3:54 but I told myself not to be an idiot.
“Back off, this isn’t necessary”
The next two I held 4 min k’s exactly. It’s nice to know you’re tapering well. At the very least, I’ll run my absolute best on Sunday, regardless of the finish time.
Sunday November 5th 2023 - Race Day
What can I say?
The grown up in me wants to avoid talking about the conditions and simply state that I gave it my all.
I did.
The adolescent in me wants to highlight the injustice served to us by the course, the weather conditions and the pacer.
I’m going to indulge the adolescent briefly but acknowledge the fact that I came away happier than expected with a time of 3:09…
On arrival in Porto the weather was already beginning to turn. At midnight on Friday Nov 3rd, whilst waiting by the seafront for our airbnb host to come and find us, we felt the wind begin to pick up. We zipped our jackets and pulled our hoods over our heads. By the time we arrived in the apartment, a gale was howling and the rain was pouring. As we lay in bed, I prayed that the morning would bring calmer conditions. As luck would have it, the 40-50kmph winds would remained unchanged until a few hours post-race.
Saturday was spent collecting race numbers, eating and resting. We both felt good - fresh, ready to race and far more positive than we had any right to be.
I awoke at 5am on Sunday and left Holly to sleep whilst I sat on the balcony drinking coffee. I watched as the heavy wind blew the rain in sideways past our little terrace, sweeping through the trees below us and wondered how I might be able to protect myself from the inevitable headwind which would no doubt be with me no matter which direction I ran. I knew that my best course of action was to stay in the 3 hour pack. Running 4:15’s wouldn’t be a problem, I was sure.
After a small breakfast of bagels, banana and honey, we made our way to the race start. After a short warm up with some drills and strides thrown, we located Gate A and locked eyes on the 3 hour pacer.
After a few anxious minutes of waiting, the gun went off.
I passed the timing mat, started my watch and looked ahead for my group… who were nowhere to be seen. I could see the 3:15 and 3:30 pacers but no sign of the 3:00 guy. Panicked, I picked up speed to try to locate them. Sure enough, some way into the distance, I spotted the flag. I glanced at my watch.
4:05 per km. Threshold pace.
I didn’t understand what was happening. “Is this a tactic that I’m unaware of?” I picked up speed in an attempt to find the back of the pack and hang on. In my head, I knew this was a mistake. I had no intention of running faster then 4:15’s because I was painfully aware that to run 10 seconds per k faster than goal race pace was a great way to blow up in the second half - but I couldn’t help it.
In the first twenty kilometres, I hit two k’s that were race pace, the other 18 were anywhere from 4:05 to 4:12. To be perfectly honest, I felt confident in running this speed but it felt harder than I would have liked (duh). I believe the course had over 500m of total elevation and it truly felt like we were never more than 5 minutes from another climb or cobblestones. Holly passed me on her way back from the turn around and tapped with one finger on the side of her skull.
You’re right, it’s all upstairs.
Shortly after, I hit the turn around. At this point the heavens opened and the wind kicked into overdrive. It was the kind of rain that stings as it lashes your face and a wind so strong that you felt like you were running on the spot. My legs turned to lead. I had been waiting for this battle to begin. Ten kilometres to fight for a finish time that had occupied my thoughts and dreams, everyday for the past five months.
It was at this stage that I began to notice the casualties of the race. Stood to the side stretching or simply walking - seemingly defeated by the weather Gods or, like me, went out too hard - not helped by an over-zealous pacer. There was no way I would suffer the same fate and witnessing this actually helped me to pick up the pace a little. Grit..grind, don’t give up.
I was aware now that sub 3 hours wasn’t a possibility. But, rather than feeling sorry for myself, I made a conscious effort to reframe my efforts.
Sub 3:10 is still one hell of a PB.
All I had to do was run under at 5:30 k’s for the final 6 kilometres and I would be ok. Up until 35kms I hadn’t run slower than 4:43 but now the lactate had sunk it’s teeth in.
5:02
5:01
4:42
5:08
5:10
5:25
5:09
The final 100m was straight uphill. The first time I looked at the clock was just as I crossed the line…
3:09:23 (26 minute personal best)
I had failed in my goal but I was elated. I didn’t see the photographer snapping a picture of Holly propping me up when I crossed - I don’t think I could have stood at this point without toppling over.
Three weeks post-race
Upon reflection, I know what I did wrong and also wonder what I could have achieved had I done exactly what my head had told me to do. Learning how to race is so important and was the one thing missing from my 5 month build. The idea of banking miles in the first half to allow a bit of slowing down in the second is a tried and true way of falling apart and not hitting your target. I knew this. I knew this so well and yet I felt I had to stay with the group. Had I stuck to my guns, I have no doubt that, even with the wind, I could have come in a fraction under three hours. That’s a bold statement considering that the average time on the course for Holly and the elites was 10-12 minutes slower than their best performances. As we spoke with others post-race, this seemed to apply across the board. 10-12 minutes gives me 2:57-2:59.
I know I can do this.
The fire is still there and, within a few days of returning home, I put my money on Manchester Marathon. Flat and fast. I’ve also signed up for Wokingham HM in Feb. I feel more fired up than I was for Porto. I have no injuries, although, I am running with a HR ten beats per minute faster than I would normally hold, over 2 weeks post-race. Holly has told me to ‘crack on’ since I feel fine.
We met with Holly’s coach, Alan Storey, to discuss her upcoming races. Alan was kind enough to give me some guidance on building to Manchester. If you haven’t heard of Alan, you should know that he was Mo’s coach before he jumped on board with the Nike Oregon Project and has trained many elite level athletes over his time. He was also director for the London Marathon. You can probably imagine that devoting too much attention to some 43 year old bloke looking to dip under 3 hours probably doesn’t stoke his fire hugely, so I am INSANELY grateful for any wisdom I can glean.
The plan is this; Work on 10k speed for a few weeks with an increasing long run on the weekends. Transition to Marathon training 16 weeks out from Manchester, which is…Christmas Day. We’ve agreed to start 15 weeks out on Sunday 31st December, basing paces off a 2:57 marathon.
Marathon Training: Week Ending 31/12/23
Today called for 15 miles with 5 miles at threshold, which is 3:58-4:00 k’s. I decided to bite the bullet and tackle the session outside in wet, windy conditions. I’ve never run sub 4 minute k’s outdoors for more than 4 minutes, so my nerves were up at the prospect of running 5 miles at this pace, sandwiched between 10 miles of easy running. I warmed up with 4 miles, all under 5 min k’s with an average HR in the 130’s before cranking up the speed for 5 miles, all performed between 3:55-3:57 with HR between 162-165. The final 6 miles sat comfortably at 4:30 per k with HR dropping to 128-132. A total of 62 miles for the week.
Wow. I felt, great. My cadence averaged out at 179. A far cry from when we returned to the Uk and nearly every run was in the 150s.
15 Weeks Out
Thew a bit of a wobbly this week. I noticed on the Tuesday that my HR was a little higher than normal. On Wednesdays sessions which was 10x3 mins off 60 sec recovery, I would run into a headwind every other lap, and, for whatever reason my Coros Pod 2 (which has now been returned and replaced with a Pace 3) kept disconnecting and then reconnecting, telling me that I was running 7:30 per k on my 3 minute efforts. Under normal conditions I would simply ignore my watch and go by effort; which I did, but not before walking half of rep 6. I had to give myself a real talking to to finish the remaining reps, but something just didn’t feel right. When I checked my data on the app post-run, I realised I had hit my reps at 20 seconds per k quicker than I was supposed to and subsequently burned out. Holly pointed out that I had ramped up the mileage far too quickly and hadn’t had a day off for 2 weeks. I know how foolish this is and yet, when you’re in it, it’s almost too easy to be, well, an idiot. So I took a day off.
The next session was a Sunday long run with 5 miles of marathon pace. The 25.75km run averaged out at 4:30 per k and an avg HR of 142; which I think is pretty good but my coros app disagrees. In fact, it disagrees with all my runs at the moment and has dropped my predicted marathon time to a low of 3:06.
Total Mileage: 55
14 Weeks Out (Breakdown of a 62.5 mile training week)
An easy 5 on Monday left me recovered enough for a speed session on Tuesday. 3x(1200m @ 3:42 per k/2 min jog/400m @ 3:19 per k) 3 mins rest between reps. Took this one to the treadmill today. I’ve been attempting to do as many of my sessions outside as possible, but due to the icy conditions I opted for inside. Forgot to do strides beforehand which made the first rep feel astronomically fast and HR spiked in 170’s. The following 2 felt much better and heart relaxed into the 160’s. 9.5 miles total.
I rarely talk much about the strength work, but this is crucial to both of our training plans and requires (especially during marathon prep) a very specific balance of exercises, intensity and volume. On Monday I trained chest and shoulders, which may not sound particularly specific to a runner but having a strong, balanced arm swing can go a long way toward better running efficiency & economy. On Tuesday I trained back (exciting, huh?)
Wednesday: This was the first time I’ve implemented a specific mid-week long run. These will be all be completed in the 12-15 mile range. Today, Wednesday, was 12. Average HR was 132bpm and average pace was 5:27 over a fairly ‘lumpy’ ’trail’ course.
Thursday: 5 miles recovery. Super easy. 124 hr at 5:37 per k.
Friday: Session. 2 mile warm up followed by 10km, 1km at 4 mins per k and 4:20 per k (the idea is that the total distance averages out to marathon pace). The over-under sessions are some of my favourite. For whatever reason, today felt easy. Really easy. An average HR of 150bpm and an average pace of 4:08 (I may have pushed slightly faster than allowed but was basing off effort and HR). 2 mile warm & 2 mile cooldown = 10.5 miles.
I
Saturday: Recovery run 6 miles: Average pace 5:24, average HR 126bpm. Found a great way to avoid looking at pace on recovery runs; I simply switch my watch face to ‘cadence’ instead of pace. Average cadence was 183spm at 126 hr which, for me, is insane. Back in September my average cadence during a tempo session was typically in the 150’s. I have to admit, at first I couldn’t run a good cadence with a low HR but, for the reason of simple continued practice/perserverance, I have gotten to a place that allows me much less ground contact time and therefore a much lesser chance of becoming injured (touch wood).
Another thing to note… my bodyweight is sat at 91kg (200lbs) yet I am leaner than I was doing Porto. Perhaps the high levels of cortisol leading into the marathon caused a spike in water retention. Never the less, I feel fitter than ever at the moment and my strength is creeping up. Famous last words?
Sunday: Long Run: ***NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Ok. This is the first time I have ever had an issue that actually stopped me during a run. The first 12 miles felt amazing. I warmed up, slowly slowly over the first couple and then worked into a HR of around 140-145, averaging about 4:40 per k over our undulating, packed trail route. A few miles in, I was ever so slightly aware of the hamstring issue that I inflicted upon myself during the initial stages of training way back in June. It was a 1 on a scale of 1-10 so I continued without any cause for concern. At mile 11 it increased to a 5. By mile 12 I had to stop. It hadn’t pulled, just tightened up to a point that I was sure I would injure myself if I continued to run. I walked for around 800m, actually not feeling too sorry for myself because I knew nothing was torn. At this point I started to jog again, and, whilst uncomfortable I managed to finish all 16 miles (albeit at 5:30-6:00 per k).
I’m sure I’ve pushed the volume too high, too quickly.
Total mileage for the week: 62.5
13 Weeks Out
Monday was a scheduled day off which, psychologically, makes this little setback easier to navigate. At some point during my twenties, I made the mistake of attempting to squat a load that was 10kg heavier than I knew I could manage. I had hit a new pb of 170kg for a single on this particular morning, but, it was quite clearly performed at my limit.
Peer pressure, is a motherfucker.
180kg went down well enough. The pop at the bottom suggested that any attempt to stand back up would be unwise.
This was undoubtedly the worst injury I have ever suffered. I remember attempting to get in the car to drive to Swanage and giving up about 200m later. I don’t recall the specific diagnosis, but performing any hinge-type pattern since has nearly always resulted in back pain. Hilariously, I still managed to deadlift 272.5kg (600lb) in competition years later. To this day, I have no idea how.
I have a feeling that our friend and physio, Claire, will tell me that my alignment is off and that this is the reason I have the hamstring issue on just the one side. I am also aware that my back has felt ‘locked up’ for the past few weeks.
The good news is that today, Tuesday, I was able to run 5.5 miles with my client first thing in the morning. It feels much better already. I will attempt a second recovery x-training session this afternoon.
